Technical Abstract:
Invertebrates present two types of large scale RNAi application opportunities: pest control and beneficial insect health. The former involves the introduction of sustainable applications to keep pest populations low, and the latter represents the challenge of keeping beneficial organisms healthy. RNAi-based solutions are natural and environmentally friendly thus obtain the traits which other existing strategies are lacking – target specificity and efficacy. Beeologics (www.beeologics.com) has established a simple and relatively inexpensive procedure to produce large quantities of dsRNA vaccine-like, to target pest or pathogen sequences. Remebee is the company’s leading dsRNA product produced in-vitro and is homologous to honeybee viral sequences. The exogenously supplied Remebee mimics the natural dsRNA intermediate involved in viral replication, within the honeybee cells. In large scale field trials, the gene silencing mechanism induced by Remebee that was fed to the bees was shown to be highly effective in preventing honeybee mortality from the Israel Acute Paralysis Virus (IAPV). RNAi application opportunities refer to any organism whose genome has been unveiled or partially sequenced thus enabling scientists to develop silencing strategies. Basic elements of the new products’ design including: mechanism of action, large-scale production, regulation and ongoing development projects are discussed.